Snapchat snaps up banker Imran Khan to monetise app

In a bid to monetise its app, Snapchat has snapped up leading tech banker Imran Khan from Credit Suisse by naming him as its first chief strategy officer.

Khan had previously been Credit Suisse’s head of internet banking. In speaking to The Wall Street Journal, a Snapchat spokesperson said he will be working directly with the company’s CEO Evan Spiegel to begin turning the company’s US$10bn valuation into a long-term, secure business model.

While only arriving in Credit Suisse in 2011, Khan is credited with turning around the fortunes of the Swiss finance outfit in terms of banking within the technology sector. He has also been involved in securing lucrative deals by advising some of the fastest-rising tech company initial public offerings (IPOs), most notably Alibaba, which last September broke all records for an IPO.

Even prior to his joining Credit Suisse, Khan’s obvious interest in the booming Chinese tech market was apparent during his time at JP Morgan Chase & Co, where he regularly flew American investors to China to meet with the likes of Alibaba, as well as Baidu, the largest Chinese-language web service in the world.

Twenty-four-year-old Spiegel is now looking to continue building his crack team of tech gurus, having already hired two former Facebook executives, Emily White and Mike Randall, as Snapchat’s operating chief and vice-president of business and marketing, respectively.

The next appointment the company is expected to make will be its first chief financial officer, who will no doubt be working closely with Spiegel and Khan.